Edgar Schmued
2 aircraft·North American Aviation·1940-1993
Austrian-born Edgar Schmued designed the P-51 Mustang in 117 days, creating the fighter that turned the air war over Europe. His revolutionary laminar-flow wing dramatically reduced drag, and when mated to a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the result was the first single-engine fighter capable of escorting bombers from England to Berlin and back. Eisenhower called it one of the decisive weapons of the war.
